Bleach: Endless Shadows
by A-O13
Summary: Betrayal.........Revenge. These are common place in the soul society, but what happens when the entire soul society turns on 1 specific noble house? Follow Kasai Arashi as he tries to prove his family's innocence, if that doesn't work what will he do?
1. Freedom

Bleach: Endless Shadows

Chapter 1: Freedom

"I've been here for what seems like an eternity. The soul society has betrayed me and my family. They've imprisoned me in this lone tower, by suspending me thousands of feet above the ground, and trapping me in a straight jacket, with chains emerging from the sleeves and connecting to the eight corners of this place. My reiatsu has been sealed off by a mask created by the R&D squad, making it impossible for me to escape. My blood boils with anger every moment that I am here and I've grown impatient! They never expected me to grow stronger in here, but finally my reiatsu has grown enough to leak through this accursed mask and I will be free once again!" As my reiatsu surged from the eye holes of the mask, it spiraled through the tower and shattered the walls of my prison. I was free…….and now I needed to find the old man. As I emerged from the rubble I was sure that my spiritual pressure had alerted the 13 court guard squads. My arms were still bound, my body was weak, and my only weapons were the chains that had imprisoned me for so long. I used my flash step to escape from the site and headed for the center of the soul society, knowing that as the level of danger increased I would be closer to my target. The sky was so blue. I hadn't seen it for so long…….It was beautiful. "Hey kid, what's with the outfit?" A voice called to me and I immediately knew I had to fight. "Oh this old thing? I've had it for so long that I didn't even realize I had it on!" I turned to see my foe, but he swung his sword before I could face him. I leaned back dodging the blow. "You'd fight me even though I don't have a weapon? How dishonorable of you." A small laugh leaked from my lips as I finally got a good look at him. His hair was blue, his eyes were fierce with passion, but he wasn't part of the Gotei 13. "Surprised? Were you expecting one of the Shinigami to attack you? Foolish boy I have no code of honor, and in truth I am the closest person to your heart that you will ever know!" He let out a wicked laugh and rushed towards me, but I swung my chains wrapping his leg in my own prison. Tugging at the chain I flipped him, but this seemed to build to his momentum, and he flew to me with his weapon ready to strike. He had me. My blood spilled to the ground and I was down on one knee. "Now listen here boy. I'm not going to kill you today, I'm not going to help you in your attempts at revenge, but I will tell you this: The world you knew is long gone and the ones you loved are far from your reach." Hearing those words ignited a flame in me more severe than the hatred I had in my heart already, and I was determined to kill this man. I disappeared from his sight and wrapped my chains around his neck not letting him speak. Tossing him through the air he flew helplessly like a rag doll but I wasn't finished with him. I flash stepped over him and struck him with those chains that I hated for so long, and he disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving behind a scroll. Taking it with me I headed once again for the center of the soul society. It all felt so strange: There was no one in the streets I roamed and I felt no spiritual pressure other than the old man's. I had finally reached my destination and kicked open the doors to his hall. "So you're finally here are you? I've been waiting quite a while for you Arashi boy. Don't you know it's rude to keep your elders waiting?" "Yamamoto you bastard! I've been imprisoned for far too long! What have you done with my family?" "I'll have to tell you some other time. I've sent everyone in the soul society on a wild goose chase. I know you aren't guilty for the crimes you were accused of." He appeared behind me and removed the jacket in the blink of an eye. For the first time in many years I felt the wind against my skin. "Here is your zanpakuto, now hurry and leave this world before you can prove your innocence." "What about the mask?" With a smile on his face he responded "I think it suits you, keep it on until you reach the human world, and it will keep you undetected from the soul reapers who come back. Besides I have no idea how to remove it! Hahaha. Find Kisuke in the human world, he made this contraption and I'm sure he can remove it." With one sword on the back of my waist and the other strapped to my back, I picked up the scroll and hopped through the gateway to the human world without saying another word to the old man. "What a foolish boy. He really thought I was Yamamoto, and he didn't even realize that he was in the shadow world." The impostor then touched the top of his head, and a light went down the center of his head, branching off into separate light patterns on his face. He pulls off the face and it turns into a white mask. "Things are starting to get fun around here."

In the real soul society my escape was just being discovered "This guy……..how did he get out of that prison?" "The hell if I know. Let's just hope that Yamamoto doesn't get too angry over this." In the 1st division barracks the old man seemed to be very angry over the news. He had in attendance the captains of every squad available in the soul society. "So a prisoner escaped big deal. This is Soifon's territory anyway, so I say we let her take care of it." "I wouldn't expect a demon like you to understand Zeraki. Your subordinates were in charge of guarding the prisoner so why the hell should I hold all of the responsibility for his escape?" "That's enough arguing you two! You sound like a couple of kids. I'm the youngest one here but I have the most composure in this meeting, how absurd." "Now now Toshiro, you're a little too worked up over all this." "Of course you would think so Shunsui; you just let your subordinates do all the work while you relax" "Ha-ha that's true! I do!" "Enough of this bickering! Show some dignity before the head captain! With all due respect Yamamoto, the Kuchiki family is the last group of people that had connections with this man. I would like to hunt him down for you personally." The old man was deep in thought, and he looked reluctant to let anyone go after me. "I cannot allow any of you to go after him. With the recent betrayal of captains Ichimaru, Tosen, and Aizen we are currently shorthanded, and I will not put any more captains at risk. With that said, I would like captains Zeraki Soifon and Byakuya to create a retrieval squad to arrest this man. He will most likely seek out Kisuke Urahara, so I ask you to deploy your squad near his shop in the human world. Meeting adjourned!"

As I dashed through the tunnel leading to the human world, I was overjoyed to have the freedom of running again! I had been imprisoned for so long I thought I forgot how to run! I came up on the end of the tunnel and was so excited that I flash stepped the rest of the way. I finally made it. The human world……I've only been here twice. It was already dark out and the stars were scattered across the sky. Maybe I should wait until morning to find Kisuke, but then again I've been resting for so long in that tower. Ugh….I don't even have a clue as to where I should start looking. At that moment I felt an immense amount of spiritual pressure. Knowing it would be a great fight I headed towards the source of its power. "Hey what the hell do you think you're doing?" Aw great, now that kid is getting bullied in the park. Why was he out so late in the first place? AHHHH what to do? I know the fight is gonna be amazing, but that damn kid! "Hey idiot! Why aren't you helping the kid?" Damn it a soul reaper was right behind me! How did he even catch up to me? I turned to him ready to fight. He had orange hair….That's…….different. "Well you see, there's this hollow close by, and I really wanted to fight him." I replied to him as I moved my right hand towards my zanpakuto on my waist. "That's pathetic! You're a soul reaper so you're supposed to protect human souls. Why not help keep this one alive?" This guy takes his job way too seriously. He's not even good at his job! He's letting me do whatever I want instead of dragging me back to the soul society. "Fine then, I'll help him, but what can I do to help a human while I'm not in a gigai?" "Whatever, just watch and learn." I watched as he took care of things. It was kind of funny. He threw buckets and rocks at the guys and they thought the park was haunted! "So what are you doing here? Doesn't the soul society need all the help it can get?" That's when it hit me. This guy didn't even know I was a criminal! "Well the soul society got boring with all those rules and regulations so I just left." "Ha-ha I can understand that. What's up with the mask though?" "Oh this is why I came here. A crazy old inventor named Kisuke made it, and I can't get it off, but I don't even know where he is." "Well then I guess I'll have to take you to his shop."Wow this guy's great! We probably would have been good friends if I didn't think he would arrest me if he knew who I was.

We came up to a broken down shack and I couldn't believe a captain would be in a place like this! It did kind of suit his personality though. "This is it, Urahara's shop. Oh I forgot to introduce myself; I'm Ichigo Kurosaki nice to meet you." "I'm Kasai Arashi." As we were about to shake hands the door to the shop flew open. "Ah Ichigo it's you, and you even brought a friend!" That loud mouth could only be Kisuke. "Come on now Kisuke don't you recognize me?" "I don't know it's kind of hard to figure out who you are with that mask on." "What? It's me, Kasai! You made this damn mask to conceal my spiritual pressure and now I can't get it off!" "Kasai you say? Doesn't ring a bell, although that mask does look familiar." A lone black cat emerged from the doorway and actually started talking! "Oh come now Kisuke, you know full well that this boy is Kasai Arashi, the eldest son of the noble Arashi family." I was surprised to see that a cat could speak, and on top of that it knew more about me than that old fart could remember. "Hey Kisuke, how can this cat talk?" A huge grin crept across his face and he looked like he was hiding a juicy little secret. "The cat isn't important right now; you came to get the mask off so come on in." The shop was really well kept for being a shack looking thing. "Yoruichi why are you keeping your identity a secret from him, and just who is this guy?" "Don't worry about it Ichigo. I was wondering if you could stay for a while, once that guy gets his mask off he'll be at full power, and he'll want to fight something. I figure you two could use a good sparring session." "Of course I'll stay. There's no way I would ever turn down a good fight"


	2. Fading Memories

Fading Memories

"Right this way kid." Kisuke led me down a long, empty hallway. We passed doors left and right but never went into a room. With a huge smile and bright eyes Kisuke yelled at the top of his longs "This is it! It's the room I've been looking for!" I was nervous, remembering all of his past experiments that were rumored throughout the soul society. The door flew open and I was ready to get on the operating table! "Well, take a seat in the middle." "Huh? You're telling me this is it?" The room was extremely tiny with only one cushion on the middle of the floor. He gave me cold stare that sent shivers down my spine and said "Of course, what were you expecting?" Beads of sweat rolled down my ice cold skin as I was terrified and could only reply to him "I expected a nightmare" Taking my place in the room I waited for the terrors that awaited me. "Hey Ichigo, come here. I migh need your help." Kisuke called Ichigo over as my fears grew more and more. "Put your palm on his head." "Like this?" "Yes that's perfect. Now Kasai calm down and close your eyes." I couldn't even respond because of my fear, and I closed my eyes. I could feel Urahara's hands on the sides of the mask while he spoke to me, probably trying to relax me. "Wow you've gotten kind of strong to be able to even leak reaitsu through this mask." I stayed silent. "So tell me, how did you stay sane in there after so many years?" "Wait how long was I in there?" "A little over 128 years." "128 years imprisoned. I don't know how I did it myself. I guess I had some help." As I recalled those events I told ichigo kisuke and that strange cat everything. "At first I couldn't really bear it. I stopped eating and became depressed sorrowful and filled with hate. I guess it all turned around when she came."

"Hey I don't like being here anymore than you do but I have strict orders to check up on you 3 times a week. The least you could do is eat." At that time I didn't know that she would be the most important person to me in the entire world. "Just leave. I don't intend to eat until I'm free." From the tone of her voice I knew she was irritated "Fine by me I'm only here because captain Kuchiki wants me to look after you. I'll be back in 2 days." She began to walk away after she had sparked my interest and I called out to her "Wait! You said Kuchiki sent you? He knows my family is innocent doesn't he? Tell him to come see me!" She ignored every word and came back in two days just as she promised. "Where's lord Kuchiki at?" I asked her full of hope and wished for justice. "Who exactly do you think sent me?" The tower was dark and I could barely make out the expression on her face. She was serious now, not playful like before. "Lord Ginrei of course. I served him for some time before I was imprisoned." I didn't know why but she seemed sad as she turned and walked away. She opened the door and some light crept in allowing me a glimpse of her long purple hair. She looked back with skin as creamy white as the moon, her lips were pink like the sakura trees and her golden flamed eyes looked up at me full of sorrow. She left again, this time not saying a word.

"The girl sounds beautiful and all, but how exactly did she save you?" Ichigo asked me sounding very entertained. That strange cat raised its head and told him "Be patient you fool! A good story always sets itself up before it gets interesting!" "Geez, whatever. So what happened next?" "She didn't come back"

The door to the tower opened and I was curious to see her again. What came through the door wasn't a beautiful woman but an arrogant man. "You scared the poor girl away! You know that right? She asked me to give you your food in her place. You must be a horrible guy to make a girl like her sad!" He put the food down just out of my reach but it didn't matter I had vowed not to eat. "When will she be back." "Ohhhh you liked her didn't you? You've been in here for quite some time so I guess a woman would be refreshing huh? Don't worry about that, she'll be back once captain Kuchiki finds out she's been skipping out on her duties." He left just as quickly as he had come, never setting foot In the tower, speaking tome from the door. I slept wondering what I had done wrong. "Hey wake up! How could you keep a visitor waiting for so long?" This voice…..it's a woman! I focused my eyes to see the girl had returned. "Were you mad at me?" "Huh? What gave you that idea? Of course not! I just needed to speak with lord Kuchiki. I needed to know who you were and if I could trust you. Let me explain I'm kind of like your replacement." "My replacement?" "Yup! I would introduce myself properly but I only have one name 'Echo'. The truth is you served the old captain and now Byakuya has taken his place." "Byakuya? But he's still too young!" "Actually you've been in here for quite some time. I regret to inform you that Ginrei Kuchiki is dead. Byakuya has grown and taken his grandfathers position as captain." "Ginrei is dead? How could this have happened?" I should have been there to protect him, instead I was here! "I was told that he died of old age, can we stop talking about this?" "Huh? Are you planning on having a conversation with me today?" "it's my day off so why not?" In time I grew closer to Echo and began to care for her. I started eating again and even told her about how I used to play with Byakuya before he was captain, she couldn't believe that he ever played at all.

Soon the day came when she told me she had fallen in love with an 11th division squad member. She spoke so highly of him and was filled with happiness when she talked about him. I was filled with jealousy and wished he would just disappear. In time she turned sad and no longer a had bright shine in her eye. "What's wrong" She looked up to me with tears in her eyes and told me "He died. The man I loved is dead." She burst into tears and I felt like it was all my fault. I felt guilty and couldn't hold it in anymore. I told her "I wanted him gone." She pulled her face out of her palms and her eyes widened as she looked to me and asked "What?" "I was jealous of him and I wanted him to disappear so I could have you. I'm sorry." She wiped her tears stood up to her feet and told me "I hate you. You deserve to be here and I can't wait until they finally give you the death sentence." I never saw her again.

I looked up to see Kisuke in tears "W-wait d-don't cry!" I panicked trying to calm him down "I can't help it. It's just so sad!" "But what about the mask? You might kill me if you mess up taking this thing off!" "Oh yeah the mask. We're almost done now. Ichigo I need you to serge your reaitsu into the holes on the mask to open it." "Finally. I didn't get to do anything except hold my hand here the whole time." "Oh hush. Ok this is the part we've all been waiting for! Ichigo when you let your reaitsu go you have to match it with mine or we could –in theory- blow up his head." "What? I nnever knew this! Maybe I should just keep it on!" "It's too late the process has already begun. Now stay stil!" "Yes sir!" The reaitsu flowed through the room and walls began to crack. "Ichigo! Pull back some!" "I can't! this is too complicated!" "Damn it! Pull back now! You're too unstable! We're running out of time!" The reaitsu boomed through the room taking down the walls and exposing a barrier. It opened at the top and the reaitsu stormed out. The mask fell to the floor. The smoke settled and I was standing on my feet again! "It worked. I was able to match with Ichigo's unsteady reaitsu flow at the last second." "Hey I tried my best! Maybe you should've just called Uryu over instead!" I looked to him with a smile and said "It doesn't matter now. I made it" I let out a laugh filled with joy knowing that I had my full strength back. "Hey Ichigo….Fight me."


End file.
